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Roberts man accused of stabbing friend's cat to death

A 19-year-old Roberts man is facing a felony mistreatment of animal charge after his friend found her cat stabbed to death in her Baldwin apartment Saturday night.

Justin J. Albright was also charged with misdemeanor bail jumping for failing to comply with the terms of his bond stemming from a September 2014 incident.

According to the criminal complaint, Albright and a male friend had been visiting two women who shared an apartment in Baldwin along with five pet cats. The four hung out together at the apartment together on Saturday from about 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. when Albright’s male companion asked for a ride home. The two women drove the man home leaving Albright alone in the apartment with the cats.

When the women returned 10 to 15 minutes later, Albright told the women he was leaving to purchase some cigarettes. That’s when one of them found several areas of blood in a bedroom, and a dead cat rolled up in a T-shirt in a closet, according to the complaint. The women then called the police.

Police found a large kitchen knife behind the bed in the woman’s bedroom. According to the complaint, the knife had blood, black hair and fatty tissue on it.

The following day, Albright agreed to meet with police in Baldwin. According to the complaint, Albright told an officer that all four individuals were high on illegal substances the previous evening. He said that when the women left to drive his friend home, he left the apartment to get some tobacco and/or cigarettes at a Kwik Trip gas station. He told the officer that the women were engaged in an argument when they returned, and he tried to console them before deciding to leave to visit another friend in Somerset. He admitted to being in the woman’s bedroom, but denied having any contact with the dead cat or the knife.

The officer followed up on Albright’s claim that he went to Kwik Trip for tobacco and/or cigarettes, but no one matching Albright’s description could be seen on surveillance footage during the time in question at either Baldwin Kwik Trip location, according to the complaint.

Albright was taken into custody and booked into St. Croix County Jail. Cash bond was set at $1,000. Albright was scheduled to appear in court again for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday afternoon.